ESSA State Plan Feedback I Provided to OPI

My response to Montana's July 2017 ESSA plan, submitted to OPI 7/17/17

To Whom It May Concern:

Following is my feedback on Montana’s ESSA plan. I am responding to the parts about which I have most knowledge, thereby leaving out feedback on other aspects such as migrant students. I hope that you will take time to read and consider it; I am happy to provide elaboration or clarification on anything.

Testing/Academic Markers

Much of OPI’s plan is predicated on student test scores. From identifying successful schools to schools in need of improvement, to pinpointing the professional development teachers need – it mostly depends on a school’s test scores according to this plan. I worry that this focus on testing will renew teachers’ fears about the overtesting, testing preparation, and overemphasis on scores that has plagued our schools since No Child Left Behind.

As for the 4% reduction, as a teacher in a Class C school that’s also located on a reservation with large numbers in our “subgroups,” I am very concerned about the rate of improvement the plan insists upon. Some of our students face grave hardships in their lives, and our first and most important responsibility as teachers is to support and guide them, especially when they lack home support. Sometimes this means we have to place academics second. This is not an excuse: it is reality. How will you gauge, with your percentage, the success we teachers have with our students in their social-emotional development? It simply feels that once again our students – and the efforts of teachers – are being reduced to numbers.

On that note, I would strongly encourage considering alternates to a standardized test such as the SBAC. Scored portfolios, writing assessments, and math work can be incorporated into these goals. All this can be quantified. Will it require training? Yes. Will the training itself lead to better instruction? Very likely. So that’s a professional development opportunity that doubles as a way to gauge student learning.

Targeted Schools

I am very concerned about the emphasis on remediation in this plan. Schools are targeted for support when they, for example, fall in the bottom 5% of the state’s rankings. They can exit this status only when they, in part, rise above the 5% threshold. But rankings require that someone is in the bottom 5%. Does this mean there will always be schools targeted for improvement, even if in the hypothetical case that all schools meet the proficiency standards?

WIDA

There is a logical flaw in this plan’s approach to improvement on the WIDA. The goal is for more students to reach 5.0 on the composite score, but that’s also the exit score. This means that as soon as students reach the goal, they are exited, leaving no students in the population with that high of a score. Mathematically this means the population will never reach the goal identified in this plan.

Title II Part A - This is a copy of the response I wrote to the previous ESSA plan. I have the same concerns today.
There are so many ways to innovate under ESSA in this arena of developing excellent teachers. Here is one specific idea: why doesn’t OPI write in some support for teacher leadership as a tangible part of district governance? OPI could use some of the state’s Title II money to develop an initiative supporting training of teacher leaders who might do what I did for one period a day last year (in my case, developing mentorship program and supporting accreditation efforts). District leadership could use exposure to this idea and the teacher leaders could use support. OPI could offer online webinars on the Learning Hub about teacher leadership for each subgroup.  

Alternatively, Title II Part A allows the creation of teacher and principal academies. Our schools’ leadership across the state could benefit immensely from new ideas, a new culture of innovation and progressive ideas. Yes, creating a principal academy would take a lot of effort, but it would be so worth the effort. And the excellent principals and superintendents who do good work in this state could be the frontrunners on the effort.

Further, did OPI consider the teacher residencies? Our teacher preparation programs need a lot of development, in my experience. OPI could develop a partnership with one promising TPP in Montana to create and pilot a real residency program in the spirit of helping pre-service teachers dive into the experiences of teaching in meaningful ways that prepare them for their own classrooms. We know that new teachers never feel fully prepared, but we could do a lot better than siloed experiences of 30 or 45 hours followed by a full semester of unpaid labor followed by all the responsibilities of an actual classroom.

Specific to this plan, on page 53, the plan reads, “The OPI will develop an annual plan to deliver essential professional development across the state of Montana to educators in schools that are identified for comprehensive, targeted, or universal support in meeting student learning needs.” One way to read this is that OPI will identify ongoing needs in specific districts and will help teachers meet them by providing PD. Another way to read it is that if students do not make academic progress based on test scores, it is the teachers’ fault and responsibility.

Perhaps there is a middle ground to be reached, where OPI recognizes that changing classroom/teaching practices isn’t the only solution to the myriad problems students in our schools face. Teachers can use support in improving school culture (MBI meets this, so thank you for your continued support of that), aiming for increased graduation rates through actual programming supported by OPI, and connecting with communities and families in authentic ways. Though outside the scope of a teacher’s traditional responsibilities, all of this could assist teachers in reaching those kids and maybe addressing the test scores that seem so important.

Equity

Yes, Montana has an equity plan, but it reads as a list of existing efforts, not a comprehensive plan to coordinate and implement those efforts. For example, how is the New Teacher Induction Project being leveraged across CSPD/RESA and universities? Perhaps this collaboration exists, but it’s not clear how. An equity plan has merit only if it’s an actual plan.

If OPI is looking for innovative approaches to achieving equitable access to effective educators for all students may I recommend this document published by the Aspen Institute and CCSSO. Some of OPI’s goals reflect what’s here: http://www.ccsso.org/Documents/2016/ESSA/AdvancingEquityThroughESSA101316.pdf It identifies 8 equity issues, provides ways to leverage ESSA to address those challenges and includes “high impact state actions” for each.
N.B.: Title II Part A can be used to support equitable access to excellent teachers.

Concerns/questions:

• Who is the stakeholder group that contributed to this plan?
• On page 35, the plan states, “By the fall of 2018, the OPI will determine the definition of an ineffective teacher.” How will this definition be developed? Who will be involved?

Anna E. Baldwin, Ed.D.

2014 Montana Teacher of the Year

Arlee High School English Teacher

Open Letter to Pre-Service and Early-Career Teachers

Dear Pre-Service and Early-Career Teachers: 

Recently I finished the semester at the University of Montana where I have spent four years as an adjunct. I can describe the attitude most of you pre-service teachers have toward your new career: cautious idealism. You have some sense that the job ahead will be difficult yet gratifying, poorly compensated yet rewarding. And you are amenable to the drawbacks because the returns are so great. 

Pre-service teachers learning about Twitter in my media literacy methods course

What you don’t yet know about yourselves is that although you may become wonderful teachers, most of you are humble. Although you may become true professionals, many of you will not become teacher leaders. Although you will advocate for your students, you will not often use your voice for yourselves.

I know you. You are teachers, and it is in the nature of teachers to serve and support others wholly and selflessly. It is almost antithetical for teachers to advocate for ourselves. We do not know how to talk to others about our work or our successes, and we certainly don’t feel comfortable asking for support.

Despite all its best intentions, Teacher Appreciation Week reinforces this notion that teachers should quietly and humbly accept our gifts and discounts for a week. It says, “please take this latte from the PTO since we all know you’re not getting a raise this year.” It says, “let us recognize these professionals who help raise the nation’s children and forget for a few days how policies often undermine their agency.” It says, “teachers are martyrs who sacrifice everything, including themselves.” 

On Teacher Appreciation Day I received two lifesaver candies in my mailbox from an administrator. I choose to see one candy as a metaphor for my work with kids (a total overstatement, in most cases) and the other as a metaphor for self-advocacy. And it's not ironic that I, myself, am wielding the second lifesaver, for myself.

I would love to trade the candies and coupons for a raise and recognition of my profession as such. But here, here is the place of tension: advocating for ourselves belies our very nature and desire for humility. The attitude I want to cultivate feels self-serving. How does one ask for more, when one is advised by the inner counselor to be satisfied with less? 

This inner counselor came to mind as I listened to you, my pre-service teachers, struggle on the last day of class with the mock interview question, “Why should we hire you?” One after the other you said you didn’t feel right "bragging." I chided, “You have to get over this feeling. You serve others, but you cannot do so effectively if you are meek about your career choice. You are your own best advocate, and when you speak for yourselves, you lift up the whole profession!”

With that small pep lecture, I hope to plant a seed of agency inside you, new teachers. I hope as you move into your careers, you will hear the rising voices inviting you to join teacher leadership. Above all, I hope you will lift your own voice as a professional, knowing that your work and your commitment are worthy of respect – both from others and from yourself.

Teachers at Teach to Lead Summit in New Orleans, where teacher leadership ideas take shape

Changing School Culture -- for Teachers

How can school leaders create a culture of innovation, inspiration, and change? How can they help teachers see themselves as change agents – as vehicles, not receptacles; as speedboats, not anchored aircraft carriers? And how can teachers do this for themselves?

First, instead of bogging down every meeting with data discussions or tedious logistics related to the week’s coming events, or allowing a complaint-garden to bloom, school leaders can use email and social media to convey that important information to teachers and use the meeting time instead as a way for teachers to connect on real levels: set up discussion protocols for teachers to share their teaching ideas, solve problems together, or brainstorm ways to collaborate. We are always talking about having too little time; school leaders can help us make our time together more productive by being purposeful and innovative.

In addition, school leaders can implement an initiative like Genius Hour for teachers: supported time to work on a passion project, modeled after Google’s approach. Most teachers would feel empowered by this autonomy and trust. It is a creative leader who finds time for teachers to do something that inspires them simply for the reason that self-directed learning is key to engagement in the overall structure of school. Isn’t this what we always say about students and classrooms? It applies to teachers, too.

Ask teachers what they want and need for professional development. All the collective wisdom about PD points to the importance of teacher voice in selecting their own training and support methods. Help teachers identify goals within their profession and move them toward those goals. In other words, differentiate professional development the way we talk of differentiating classroom instruction so that every participant’s needs are met. In my building, we have been pushing for unconference-style PD where teachers arrive at the meeting with something they want to learn, and other teachers provide the instruction.

Establish a culture of innovation. Ask staff members to contribute ideas for improving the school environment, whether it’s school culture, scheduling, snacks, collaboration, the facility – and encourage collaboration among staff members to solve these problems. Once the educators and support personnel in the building feel the support and interest from their school leaders, they will be more likely to be inventive in their own problem-solving within their classrooms and building environments.

In short, creating the space for teacher agency is a key to empowering teachers and re-engaging those who have abdicated their enthusiasm. Effective managers can and do change school culture.

The C in Class C

Class C schools, Class C tournaments, Class C towns.

What does that C stand for? According to the Montana High School Association, Class C designates the high schools with fewer than 120 students. In Montana, that's about 64% of all high schools. 108 of them, to be exact, located in tiny towns and reservation communities across the state. 

Jocko Valley, home of Class C Arlee High School

In towns with Class C schools, the school functions as the pivot point for many activities. Even folks without kids in school come to school events such as band concerts and fundraisers. Grandparents, aunties and uncles and other extended relatives fill the seats at athletic competitions and graduations. Even some funerals are held in school gyms, when there is no other venue large enough. 

And when Class C schools travel, towns empty out. "Last one to leave turns out the lights" goes the saying. Here's a Missoulian article about this phenomenon from last year's state basketball tournament. And what about those fans? Here's what the Northern Sports Network reported when Arlee's eight-man football team made it to the state championships for the first time 29 years: "The fans were one of the notable parts of the game. Hundreds of fans made the 366 mile trip to Chinook to watch their team play in the title game."

Three hundred and sixty-six miles. That's over five hours one way. Yes, Montana, but also yes, dedication. Can you see the caravan of cars, painted red and white, stretching for miles across the plains, heading east to watch their team - our team - play in their first state championship in decades? We lost. But here's what happened then: "Following the trophy presentation, the Arlee players lined up single file and every single Warriors fan came by and gave each and every player a hug. The emotional event lasted over 45 minutes." Because that's how we do. 

Community members left behind watch the game from a high school classroom.

When Class C Chinook lost a wrestler in a car accident just before the state tournament earlier this month, Arlee distributed memorial armbands to their wrestling team. One Chinook wrestler remarked, "It just shows that the whole wrestling community is one big family." The wrestling community and the community of small towns: one big family. That's how we are.

And of course last night at the Western C Divisionals basketball tournament in Hamilton, 72 miles away, hundreds of Arlee fans packed the gym to watch both of their teams compete in the championship games. Picture this: One side of a gymnasium fully wearing red. Half of the opposing bleachers, also in red. One full end, also in red. This crowd is rowdy, ready, loud, and proud. Not only did both teams bring home the first place hardware and clinch a trip to state, the girls became the first team in recent memory to do so.

Around 11:30, I was home enjoying some couch time when I heard the sirens. Not fast, but slow. Not one, but several. And the honking. I stepped onto the porch, and cue the goosebumps - the teams were back from the divisional tournament, escorted by our town's emergency vehicles, flanked by happy parents and grandparents and aunties and uncles and extended family. 

If you do not live in a small town, you cannot know the elation of a community that rallies around its own: the gyms packed with sports fans, proud parents of graduates, or mourners at a funeral. 

If you do not live in a small town, you may not "get" the excitement of caravans that travel together, hotels full of guests who know each other, hundreds of fans with matching t-shirts in faraway bleachers.

If you do not live in a small town, you may not guess what the C in Class C really stands for: community.

Un-Distorting Reality

Recently I sent an email home informing parents of students in my senior speech class that we run an essentially gradeless classroom. Students use a "success rubric" to guide and assess their progress, with assistance from their teacher. I wrote about this approach during a previous semester here, here, and here; it was overwhelmingly successful despite some students' initial fears.

Later that day I received a respectful disagreement from a parent who rejects this approach to grading because it doesn't reflect "real-world" consequences. This argument isn't surprising to me at all. But I kept coming back to it, my mind worrying it like a loose tooth.

Finally, this realization: grades in school share very little with job-related consequences in real life. Grades are superficial and vary in meaning from teacher to teacher. Teachers do not necessarily want to replicate the ways they do correspond, the subjectivity and arbitrariness.

And actually, very little in a traditional high school reflects the adult world of work. In what place in the world of work, for example, is a person shunted from room to room every 53 minutes with 3 minutes to take a break or use the bathroom? In what place in the world of work does an employee sit in a desk in rows and interact minimally with others? In what place is an adult told to succeed in a variety of very different disciplines? And where - other than in a school - is a person made to do all of this in a single day, day after day, for thirteen years? At best, traditional high school is a distorted reflection of the "real world."

Some might say that traditional approaches are good for training up our youth for a harsh world. While I see the point, I reject the logic: why must we use the same methods we - parents and teachers - ourselves experienced? We can innovate and still prepare our students.

In my classroom, I have thrown out desks in favor of collaborative spaces; this doesn't mean I don't ask to see individual performance.

I connect our classroom work to the world in which students live through field work and guest speakers; this doesn't mean I reject the "3 R's."

And I encourage students to think for themselves by removing superficial and authoritative grades; this does not mean there is no pressure to improve.

It's time not only to change our own environment, but to change the world of schooling for our students. And to do that, we have to change the hearts and minds of parents and community members, sometimes administrators and policymakers too.

We must un-distort our view of the real world and adjust our schools to match it - for now and for the future.

Holding Back for Deeper Love

Love is on everyone's minds right now, whether it's the love they have in their lives or the love they wish they had. One thing most people can agree upon is that love is complicated. There are so many kinds! Romantic love, parental love, childhood love, tough love.

Teachers also have a special love for their students and their classrooms. You can tell the really committed ones: they open their rooms early for kids to chill in until the first bell. They eat lunch with students and tell jokes with them, sometimes hug them. Some become their students' confidants and surrogate parents.

I am not one of those teachers.

I need my space.
I like eating alone, at home.
I'm not a hugger.
I don't want to know students' secrets.
I don't have it in me to parent other people's kids.

Why can't I go there? My bucket is big enough for six preps, plus grading and planning, and an occasional lunch meeting. Given free rein, by nature I would overwork myself, overtax my time, and overwhelm the straps of my schoolbags. If I'm with students straight from 7:30-4:15, then spend my evenings and weekends with them virtually by grading and doing armchair planning, if I hold their confidences and help guide their personal lives - well, that bucket is too full. I can no longer carry it. And if the bucket contents begin to slosh out, that means I've undermined my own ability to love every moment of my time in the classroom.

I've often felt guilty about this, defensive in explaining why I like to be alone in the mornings. Maybe a little envious of teachers whose doors are always open. Sometimes an awkward back-pat takes the place of a proper hug, and I wonder why I can't cross that line. But underneath this pressure is a hard fact: I know my limits.

And those limits are essential because I must protect this job, the one I love so much, from myself. I want to love my students, my work, even grading. I want to be my best when I'm with the students, assessing their performance, coaching them to improve. I want to show students good ways to live their lives through the work we do together in the classroom. This doesn't happen if I've flatlined from exposure. Thus boundaries are necessary, restraint crucial.

So my students can wait until the bell.
They can eat with each other.
They can find a counselor for their confidences and hugs.

For me to thoroughly commit to my students, I must unapologetically hold back.

And holding back means simply this: loving more deeply.

Other Side of the Bridge

Last week I spent a few hours in the company of some newly minted teachers of the year at their first conference in San Antonio. I was helping deliver a presentation with Hope Street Group on the topic of building relationships with leaders. For me though, this experience was a profoundly reflective one. That is, I found myself reflecting on the two years since I sat in these teachers' seats and thinking about how much I've changed and grown since then.

Two years ago, I worried a lot about the conference before I arrived. My experience had been mostly limited to my classroom, where I had spent my time fretting about my students' grasp of comma splices and when to schedule my next club meeting. I was not some super-teacher. I was not a policy expert. I did not really even know how to dress myself; I'd bookmarked a graphic I found depicting the differences between business casual and professional.

After I arrived, my worries were confirmed. Those other teachers of the year were definitely stellar, knowledgeable, competent. They knew about policy. They had their platforms and elevator speeches. Their voices didn't quaver when they introduced themselves. I am not exaggerating when I tell you this: I was waiting, the whole time, for someone to call from Montana and say, "We've made a big mistake; you're not the teacher of the year." It would have been a humiliating relief.

But no one called. After that week I decided they must have just accepted their mistake, and left me to cope. And this is where my memories of that week and my new perspective on it collide. As I sat there watching these new STOYs I was reminded of one of my favorite TED talks.

Amy Cuddy's research on body language is fascinating and useful, but it is her personal story that reaches me. She talks about losing her own sense of identity, how she struggled to regain it, and in doing so how she reinvented herself. She says, "Don't just fake it till you make it; fake it till you become it."

New state teachers of the year are in a similar position. They have lost their classroom-teacher-only identity. They are swimming in a sea of uncertainty, trying to find their feet. They are wondering how to catch up, and whether someone is going to find them out.

I know. I felt that way. But two years later, the imposter sensation does dissipate. The opportunities afforded every state teacher of the year are enough to make change.

But the biggest shift is a change in mindset: as soon as we begin to see ourselves as leaders, we become leaders. We advocate and innovate. We solve problems. We write. We amplify the voices of our colleagues. We lead.

So, to the Class of 2016: 

Find your voice. Speak your truth. Yell if you have to.

Fake it till you become it.